Local officials use crushed bus to illustrate need for higher federal gasoline tax

Local labor leaders and elected officials gathered in front of a school bus being crushed by a chunk of concrete Monday morning in Springfield to urge Congress to pass a long-term infrastructure bill.

The prop, which is touring the country, was parked at the corner of College and Edwards streets to call attention to the nationís crumbling infrastructure.

Union leaders say the smashed bus is not a far-fetched scenario.

ďYou think it canít happen here until it does,Ē said Clint Taylor, Southern & Central Illinois Laborersí District Council Business Manager.

Sean Stott, director of governmental affairs for the Laborers International Union of North America Midwest Region, said the labor group is urging Congress to support a minimum investment of $300 billion over six years in the nationís infrastructure.

To pay for it, the union is calling for an increase to the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax, which has remained flat for 21 years. Union leaders say investing in infrastructure will mean more jobs, safer travel and a stronger economy.

House Republicans are considering a $10.5 billion, eight-month transportation funding bill to push the debate over road and transit spending into the next Congress.

An American Society of Civil Engineers study found one in four bridges in the country is deficient or obsolete. The average bridge is 46 years old, near the average expected lifespan of 50 years. On average, 25 bridges collapse every year in the United States.

An analysis by the advocacy group, Transportation for America, found that 8.7 percent of Illinoisí 26,514 bridges were structurally deficient in 2012, a slight increase from 2011. In Sangamon County, 6.8 percent of the 456 bridges were structurally deficient in 2012, according to the report.

Springfield Ald. Cory Jobe and a representative from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbinís office joined the press conference Monday.